5 Eye-Opening Issues from the Forgotten Backwater Flood

5 Eye-Opening Issues from the Forgotten Backwater Flood

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A picture of one of my husband’s beautiful cotton crops from several years ago

Brief overview

550,000 acres of land is flooded in the South Mississippi Delta.

The forgotten backwater flood in the South Mississippi Delta is a catastrophe. Sometimes words become so familiar, that people gloss over them without really stopping to think about the depth and power of the words.

That is the only plausible explanation that I have for the fact that we have had very little national media attention while our area has been flooded for five months, and that the federal government hasn’t solved the problem yet, a problem they created years ago.

Hopefully, the words of the flooding just innocently haven’t sunk in yet. 

Because if people were to really picture in their minds that 550,000 acres of land have been flooded for five months, then surely this issue would get the attention it deserves.

How large of an area is 550,000 acres? 550,000 acres is larger than New York City and Los Angelos combined. If those cities were flooded for five months, we would know about it.

Yazoo Backwater Project

Especially if three out of the four areas with the same federal plan to prevent flooding received the final part of the plan, and the one area that did not, happened to be one of those big cities.

In our case, we farm in the one area that did not receive the final part of the plan, and this area has been flooded for five months. 

According to the MS Levee Board, over the years, the federal government has put in levees, a connecting channel, and gates as part of the Yazoo Backwater Project. However, they did not put in the pumps, which was the final step. 

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This map is from eenews.net showing the Yazoo Backwater Flood Area and the site of the proposed pumping plant. Fish and Wildlife Service

I’m sure the argument is that it doesn’t affect as many people as it would in NYC and LA since it is the South Mississippi Delta. However, it affects me and many others, and in my mind, our livelihood is as important as anyone else’s.

We need more national media attention and awareness so that the federal government will approve and start the pumps, which is a 4-year project.

Also according to the MS Levee Board, in 1986, the federal government put in some of the features of the pumping station. The dirt work is there, and my understanding is there is a culvert around the pump site. 

Mississippi politicians, lawmakers, and the MS Levee Board are working tirelessly to get the pumps passed by getting word to Washington D.C. and taking some of the decision-makers on tours of the area.

5 eye-opening issues during the forgotten backwater flood

Unfortunately, during this period of the forgotten backwater flood that we are in, which has often felt topsy-turvy, there are 5 things that haven’t changed. And they are devastating. Life is still moving forward, and people must still pay their bills. 

1. Land location

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This is what these acres normally look like when the farmers plant their crops

Land doesn’t move and can’t be moved.

My husband’s family has farmed in Holly Bluff, Mississippi since the early 1900s. He currently farms there with his brother. Although we lived in Holly Bluff for three years when we first got married, we moved from the farm to the Jackson, Mississippi area in 2001. (My husband drives an hour and fifteen minutes to the farm to work) While in Holly Bluff, we lived in the white house shown below which is right across the street from the old infamous “Lurline Screws” sign. (the sign is no longer there; the house is, but his family sold it) His family built this home in 1912.

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Old photo of the Holly Bluff house
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Newer photo of the Holly Bluff house

Occupation choice

My husband and his brother are smart and well-educated. They both have college degrees and Juris Doctor degrees. I’m not saying that you have to have degrees after your name, but my point is they both could have done anything they wanted, wherever they wanted, and probably would have been successful at it.

They chose to farm as their career. They are good farmers. Some people say farming is in your blood once you have grown up around it. I tend to agree.

Meanwhile, in Washington D.C., the opponents of pumps that were already part of a plan that had been devised in 1941, and given to the other three areas many years later, didn’t think about my husband and his career choice in an area that had been farmed by his family for many years.

The eye-opening issue is that 80 percent of the land that they farm has been underwater for five months and still is. And this wasn’t in the winter. This has been during the prime planting season. They also spent money in the winter to prepare their land.

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These are their silos, office, and fields underwater. Someone took this picture in   March from a drone and sent it to my husband. The flooding is worse four months later.

It would be like if your occupation was put on hold for over five months and really, for a calendar year, all because of where it is located. And imagine its being avoidable except that the federal government neglected to put in the final step for the flood project in your area but followed through in three other areas. You would probably feel forgotten, too.

2. Bank loans

There have been years when farmers were able to farm without having to borrow money from the bank. Those were ideal years. But, most years, farmers have to borrow money from the bank to buy seed, chemicals, and pay their notes on equipment and land rent. Then, when the money from selling crops at the end of the year comes in, they pay the bank back, pay their taxes, keep some in the farm account, and decide what to pay themselves as their salary.

This year, before the land flooded, most farmers still borrowed the money upfront to prepare their land for this year’s crop…the crop that wasn’t. Also, of course they had been watching the potential flood situation with help from the MS Levee Board but were in a catch-22 as to whether to prepare the land or not.

In farming, they have a small window of opportunity to get the land prepared and plant the crops. If they had not prepared the land and it had not flooded, they would have missed their window of opportunity to plant because the land wouldn’t have been ready. So, they spent the money and time to prepare the land, it flooded, and all of the money and time was for nothing. Complicated!

3. Equipment bills 

Farmers either finance their tractors and other equipment if they buy them, or they lease them like you would a car. Either way, unless they pay cash, they owe money for the equipment. These are very expensive vehicles. So, picture all cars that you own sitting in your driveway for basically a year, but you continue to write checks for them every month.

This was eye-opening for me.

4. Land rent

Some farmers farm land that they own. Other farmers lease the land from either family members or others. My husband leases 100 percent of the land from 7 different landlords. The landlords expect their money every year no matter what, as they should.

Some farmers do crop share leases which means on really good years, they pay their landlords more, and on bad years, they pay their landlords less.

My husband has done both types of leases over the years.

Currently, they have straight leases where they pay the same amount of rent whether there is a bumper crop or whether they can only plant 20 percent of their land like this year.

5. Family budget

I’ve been married for over 20 years. We may not have done the budgeting right or may be the only people who budget like this, but over the years, you begin to have expenses that occur every year or every month.

And sometimes you add things to your budget based on your “good years.”

For example, when we moved from the farm to the Jackson Metro area in 2001, we eventually decided to put our three children in private schools. We also have a mortgage. Having a child in college and another one in college in a year is expensive as well. Also, our teenagers have cars. We have to eat, buy clothes and enjoy life, too. 

Sure, the best answer is to live so far beneath your means, that you can handle the “bad years.” We have had our fair share of “bad years” but nothing like the potential of this year.

Thankfully, I am a realtor and have been able to help support us over the years. But, our expenses have also increased. And all of this very real current stress was caused because there was no follow-through by the government with providing the very last piece of the puzzle–the pumps. 

This one was the scariest eye-opener for me personally.

Ripple effects

Roads closed for long periods=more gas money put into the local people’s family budget

There are only three ways into the town of Holly Bluff. All three ways meet at a three-way stop at the hub of the town right in front of the house that we lived in. Two of these three ways were closed at some point during this event.

In fact, these two of three ways into the town are still closed after five months. Seriously!

***Update: The highway to Satartia which connected Holly Bluff to Hwy 49 to Jackson is now open***

***Update: The highway to Rolling Fork is now open. I drove through there recently. The water is gone is many areas, but the land looks like a desolate wasteland. Barre, depressing. I rode through in August. It felt like November or January. There should be beautful fields of crops every where. Instead, there are no crops for miles.**

The closest true grocery store to Holly Bluff is 15 minutes away in Rolling Fork, Mississippi. The road to Rolling Fork is still closed, so the residents are forced to go to Yazoo City, which is 25-30 minutes away, to get groceries. That’s double the gas money every time you need to go to the grocery store. This is probably also hurting the Rolling Fork economy since the Holly Bluff residents can’t get there.

Also, the road to Satartia, which eventually gets you to Highway 49, which is the quickest way to Jackson, is still closed as well. That is crazy! My husband has had to go a different route to work, for months. His hour and fifteen-minute one-way commute has turned into an hour an a half one-way. 

So, this may be a stretch in my thinking, but wherever you live, imagine if 67 percent of the roads that led into your town were closed for five months and still aren’t open…and all due to a lack of follow-through while three other areas were served, as promised. 

Other people’s family budgets and obligations

Others also have family budgets to meet, who actually live in that area. They have to worry about water in getting into their houses. Some have water in their houses, and some don’t. Just awful.

I also think about my husband’s employees. We are paying them instead of having them collect unemployment, but I can tell you, they usually depend on the long hours in the spring and fall of a year to help make their ends meet, and the hours just aren’t there. My husband pays them more hours than they work, but it doesn’t equal what they get on a normal year. This is awful!

Think about the farm equipment store employees. No one is buying equipment this year, and no one is using their mechanics this year when things break down. All of those employees also have family budgets and obligations.

Also, the seed and chemical companies aren’t selling as much this year. Their employees also have family budgets to meet.

Additionally, this affects the banks because obviously, the farmers aren’t borrowing as much as money usual because there is way less seed or chemicals to buy.

Sadly, one of the only places for my husband to get lunch in the town, Junae’s Grocery, closed down because the farmers haven’t been working much. She depends on the farmers in the area. I’m sure she also has a family budget and obligations. 

The answer?

Some people may be wondering, “How are farmers going to make their payments to creditors and draw a salary to meet the family budget?” I worry about that for sure.

Most farmers have crop insurance. The problem is, the payout could be as low as 30 cents on the dollar. Crop insurance, like any other insurance, isn’t free. They pay for crop insurance in order to get paid back potentially 30 cents on the dollar (or more). The federal government also subsidizes crop insurance.

In addition to crop insurance, farmers are depending on the federal government for some disaster relief. The problem is who knows when the government will pay it out or how much farmers will get. The government isn’t known for being swift. Meanwhile, we still have to pay our bills.

This is a very serious situation that could have been avoided if the federal government had followed through with the final part of their plan many years ago. (Remember they followed through with three of the four areas that received this flood control; they “forgot” Yazoo and caved to the EPA’s opposition of the pumps over and over hence the name forgotten backwater flood) We want them to approve and start this four-year pump project asap.

It’s the right thing to do. 

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A picture of my husband, youngest child who is now a teenager, and our dogs Ella Louise and Annie Dianne. On one of our anniversaries in June when my husband was so busy farming, we came to see him in Holly Bluff to cook out and celebrate our anniversary.

Learn more

For more information on the Yazoo Backwater Project, this is an excellent article on the MS Levee Board website. On Facebook, there is a group called Forgotten Backwater Flood which has tons of information about this. 

You can read a more general article on this in my article 92 Years of the Yazoo Backwater Project in 1400 Words. 

What issues have you faced if you are affected by the forgotten backwater flood? If you aren’t affected by this, had you heard about it?

Read Laurie’s story of how a recent health scare led to the birth of this site, White Cotton.




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